Seoul will be serving as the Asia Pacific Regional Hub for the upcoming ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) Congress, slated to be held in Colombia from October 24-27, 2021, in a multi-hub hybrid format.
The event is expected to draw 1,500 participants from convention bureaus and PCOs attending from 90 countries. The in-person congress will be held at COEX and streamed live for both days, and will comprise of ICCA headquarters’ online programmes from Cartagena de Indias and Seoul’s local programmes.
The 2020 ICCA Congress being held in Seoul
An STO official said that the South Korean city will “utilise last year’s hosting experience to upgrade Seoul’s position as the optimal hosting destination for hybrid MICE events”.
The ICCA Congress pivoted to a hybrid model for the first time last year, and chose hub cities to represent Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. In 2020, Sarawak was chosen as regional host for APAC.
Interprefy, a provider of managed interpreting technology and services, has partnered with London-based Grip, an AI-powered matchmaking and networking solution for events.
This partnership will allow Grip to run webinars and virtual events in multiple languages without the administrative overhead.
A screenshot of the Grip website
Grip will be integrated with Interprefy’s Select Solution, which features an array of tools to optimise the user experience and there is no limit to the number of languages that can be provided.
“With the world turning to hybrid events, in the post-Covid-19 world, a large number of events are retaining some part of the virtual experience, for the longer term,” said Richard Roocroft, director of global sales at Interprefy.
“Interprefy makes Grip events multilingual, so that attendees can listen to presenters in a language of their choice, helping to increase engagement and inclusivity for all. We are delighted to partner with Grip, a global leader in hybrid events for networking and lead management”, Roocroft added.
Melia International has rolled out a We Are Back, Meet with Melia campaign, where event planners can choose from some 130 properties to hold their events at.
This promotion is valid for newly confirmed groups before December 31, 2021, with arrival until June 30, 2022, and groups have to contract both accommodation and meeting spaces. Melia has also emphasised its cleanliness, with the Stay Safe With Meliá programme certified by Bureau Veritas in place.
Melia Hanoi
Groups can enjoy maximum flexibility, such as free cancellation and return of deposits up to 60 days before arrival; as well as the possibility to change the dates with no cancellation fees at the 30-day mark.
Event planners will also be rewarded with double Melia Rewards Points for every group booked.
This promotion is not applicable for group buyouts or groups that book more than 80 per cent of the hotel accommodation capacity.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has opened its latest outpost in Istanbul, Turkey.
There are 100 luxurious guestrooms at the Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus, Istanbul, good for hotel group buyouts. For corporate events, the urban resort features three ballrooms, a garden terrace and pool area, an open area which can be decorated, and six meeting rooms.
One-bedroom suite
The hotel has also introduced the Novikov concept to Istanbul, with the main Novikov restaurant on the shorefront, a Novikov Lounge Bar, a vibrant Bosphorus Lounge with waterfront terrace, and the Novikov Pool Bar.
Meanwhile, the spa offers an extensive range of wellness and beauty therapies and includes luxury treatment rooms, hammams, private relaxation areas, exercise and fitness facilities as well as an indoor and outdoor swimming pool.
The urban resort is located 15 minutes from the central business district and the city’s central Taksim Square. Istanbul’s major attractions, historical sites and museums are a short drive away, and the hotel is a short walk to the nightlife in Kuruçeşme.
Hilton has appointed industry veteran Cedric Nubul as general manager for Hilton Singapore Orchard, which is set to open in January 2022 following an extensive refurbishment of the current Mandarin Orchard Singapore.
Nubul brings over 20 years of experience with Hilton hotels, including strong experience in conversion of hotels. He served in the role of general manager across the Caribbean and Colombia over the past eight years, and previously worked across France, Spain, Italy, the Maldives, and Malaysia.
Nest Group Indonesia (NGI) has unveiled the Nest Virtual Convention Center (NVCC), the country’s first web-based virtual venue.
Although virtual, NVCC offers both indoor and outdoor areas. The indoor space has a total area of 135,000m2 consisting of a ballroom, exhibition hall, meeting room, and plenary hall, while the outdoor area measures 50,000m2. The virtual model of a venue was superimposed onto the platform with the help of virtual reality 360, and 3D web technology.
A screenshot from the NVCC website
On-site attendees can meet, network, and hold interviews directly on NVCC. When visiting a stand, attendees can also download and interact with exhibitors as they would in a physical event. Real-time chat, audio, and video calls help to ensure maximum user engagement and interaction.
On how this will benefit event organisers, Soegianto Husin, CEO of Nest Group explained that the virtual setup will help save on event costs, and cut down on preparation time without having the need to create a brand new website each time an event planner wants to hold a virtual event.
“If you have to build websites on a project basis, you have to pay for the venue design. Then you would have to pay for another platform on which the virtual event can be built open. For us, NVCC already is the venue, so we’re able to provide clients with all these services.
“We have also created many template designs for stages and booths, and clients just have to choose the one they want, which is included in one pricing,” Soegianto elaborated.
Eddy Mulyoto, founder of Empro production, shared his experience: “NVCC helps organisers deliver memorable experiences that the audience craves for, yet it makes the organiser’s work simpler because everything that’s needed to build a virtual tradeshow is already on the platform.”
“As long as organisers understand the event brief and know the detailed specifications of the client’s needs, organisers can deliver a unique experience in a virtual venue where attendees can meet new people, network, and interact as they would in real life.”
As for Donny D, managing director of Adcom Cipta Media, while he agrees NVCC makes it easier for event organisers to create and host virtual events, he hopes that there is enough bandwidth to successfully deliver numerous digital aspects of the event.
Domestic tourism will lead the initial recovery phase; a security officer standing guard at Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia pictured
The Indonesian government has unveiled its three-stage recovery plan to build a more resilient tourism industry post-Covid.
Speaking at the Global Tourism Forum last week, Rizki Handayani, deputy of tourism product and MICE at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE), said in the first stage of recovery (2021 to 2022), the focus will be on spurring domestic tourism and accelerating digital transformation within the sector, while ensuring that the CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability) protocols are being implemented across destinations.
Domestic tourism will lead the initial recovery phase; a security officer standing guard at Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia pictured
The ministry will also focus on establishing travel bubble arrangements, and work with related government agencies to prepare for the gradual reopening of destinations across the country, particularly Bali.
To pave the way for Bali’s reopening, Teuku Faizasyah, director general of information and public diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that his office would help MoTCE analyse potential source markets and keep international travellers updated of the Covid-safe measures in place at tourist destinations.
Budi Tirtawisata, CEO of Panorama Group, urged the government to ease entry requirements for international travellers, including exempting them from quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19.
In the second phase of the recovery programme, from 2022 to 2024, MoTCE will aggressively promote tourism villages as it projects that community-based tourism will shine in the post-Covid era, said Rizki.
During this recovery stage, the government will focus on boosting the sector’s resilience, through stimulus funding to support the digitisation of tourism villages and development of creative hubs, as well as facilitating collaboration between e-commerce players and banks for capital assistance.
Rizki expects that the growth and acceleration phase will take place from 2024 to 2029. During this stage, the government will strengthen quality tourism and the destination resilience, promote wellness and adventure products, intensify marketing campaigns, speed up digital transformation, as well as strengthen the supply and value chains of the industry.
Yokohama has successfully hosted the first conference under the Yokohama Blue Carbon Offset System
Yokohama is eyeing more sustainability-focused business events following the successful hosting of its first international conference under the new Yokohama Blue Carbon Offset System, as well as the stepping up of green efforts by the global business events industry.
The 2nd ICCA Asia Pacific Chapter Summit, which was held in Pacifico Yokohama North, opted to use the programme developed by Yokohama as part of its green efforts, according to a recent press release by the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (YCVB).
Yokohama (pictured) has successfully hosted the first conference under the Yokohama Blue Carbon Offset System
The total distance travelled by the 294 attendees and the resultant carbon emissions generated was calculated and combined with the total energy used to power the venue during the event to create an offset value.
Drawing on part of the participants’ registration fee, the offset money was used for programmes focusing on supporting marine life in the area that absorbs carbon dioxide.
“Since Yokohama was developed as a port, we wanted to implement a global warming countermeasure to take advantage of the city’s connection with the sea,” shared Yuki Murai, manager of project promotion division at Climate Change Policy Headquarters, City of Yokohama.
“By operating this system, we aim to raise awareness of blue carbon and have various environmental and economic impacts.”
YCVB’s business events team representative Asami Aoki told TTGmice that they have seen a rise in interest in a range of green issues among business events organisers. These include the recycling, food waste policy, sustainable credentials and carbon footprint offset capabilities of venues and facilities in the Japanese port city.
Business events providers have been responding to green demands, too.
Pacifico Yokohama’s efforts include reducing its water use to 35 per cent by utilising rainwater collected on exhibition hall roofs to cool generators and flush toilets at the conference centre. The facility, one of the largest in the world at 26,752m2, also boasts a 93 per cent recycling rate.
Elsewhere in the city, the InterContinental Yokohama Grand has been awarded an Ethical and Sustainable score of 8.6 out of 10 for its implementation of additional green measures.
BCD Pay is a new cloud-based platform from BCD Travel that has been described by the company as a “frictionless digital payment experience from trip booking and payment through reconciliation”.
Available to clients as an add-on subscription, the new BCD Pay is a suite of solutions that use artificial intelligence, machine learning and open APIs to simplify, digitise and automate corporate travel payment, reconciliation and invoice management.
BCD Pay will ease pain points experienced by travellers, travel managers and finance teams related to their travel and expense payment
It provides seamless orchestration of payment, invoices and receipts during the trip and features an automated console to review, reconcile and audit T&E spend management, invoices, receipt, credit card and expense transactions.
BCD Pay’s functionalities were designed to address key pain points for its corporate travel clients, the TMC said.
A recent BCD survey found that more than half of clients struggled with missing invoices and receipts, credit card reconciliation, and the quality of expense and spend data. Meanwhile, more than 25 per cent of clients cited challenges in managing payments for meetings, events and non-employee travel, especially with the post-Covid rise of hybrid work.
Ajay Singh, vice president, digital payment and expense products, said in a statement: “BCD Pay eases the burden of travellers, who are looking for a simple process with no need to make payments or expense claims. It helps managers maintain and improve control over payment for corporate travel, meetings and events and get greater payment visibility. It also frees up management time by automating manual tasks related to reconciliation and workflow, and enriches data transfers by streamlining the T&E spend management process.”
During pilot testing, BCD Pay has shown a 75 per cent improvement in the cycle time of end-to-end data ingestion, reconciliation, reporting and data integration across a fragmented ecosystem of back offices, ERP systems and credit card issuer systems.
The Langham, Jakarta, has opened in Indonesia, making it Langham Hospitality Group’s first property in South-east Asia.
The luxury property located within the new complex of District 8 at SCBD (Sudirman Central Business District) features more than 2,100m2 of flexible space, comprising a 688m2 ballroom, outdoor garden, and 11 function rooms for events of all sizes.
Executive Room
There are 223 guestrooms available, including the 336m2 Presidential Suite. Club guests will benefit from the Langham Club lounge on the hotel’s 59th floor, which also boasts a writer’s corner, a reading library and private arrival and departure facilitates with dedicated butlers.
Recreational facilities include the Chuan Spa, a fitness centre, and Jakarta’s highest indoor infinity pool with panoramic views of the city. Meanwhile, F&B options include celebrity restaurant Tom’s by Tom Aikens; T’ang Court, inspired by its three-Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant namesake at The Langham, Hong Kong; and a rooftop bar.
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